Annual free anti-asthma fish medicine distribution begins

The annual fish 'prasadam' (fish medicine for asthma patients) distribution began this evening at the Exhibition Grounds at Nampally area here.
Administering of the fish medicine that started at 5.22 pm (on Mrigasira Karthi day) will continue 24 hours non-stop (up to 5.22 pm tomorrow) which normally coincides with the onset of monsoon.
Thousands of people from different parts of the country come to the city to take the traditional fish medicine at the annual event, organised by the Bathini Mrigasira Trust which provides it free of cost on the occasion of 'Mrigasira Karthi' that some claim provides "miraculous" relief to asthma patients.

Members of the Bathini family, which has been administering this "herbal medicine" free of cost for the past several years, claimed that over four lakh people are expected this year and they are preparing 200 kg of the medicine.
They insert the "yellow herbal medicine" into the mouth of a sardine about two to three inches long and this live fish is then slipped down the throat of a patient, while vegetarians get this medicine with jaggery.